


Suffocating.

by paleromantic, tylerscreamingintothevoid



Series: Family Ties. [4]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: (Boy Wonder), Bruce Wayne (mentioned) - Freeform, Carrie Kelley (mentioned) - Freeform, Gen, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Joker (Mentioned) - Freeform, Scared Tim Drake, Tim Drake is Robin, Trapped, rockslide - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 21:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15445782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paleromantic/pseuds/paleromantic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tylerscreamingintothevoid/pseuds/tylerscreamingintothevoid
Summary: Jason and Tim are on a stakeout when rocks come down and trap them together, slowly running out of air. Both of the boys get stuff off their chests.





	Suffocating.

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after our version of "Under The Red Hood" that'll be posted at some point, and another fic titled "Intoxicating." which should hopefully go up at some point! It's probably necessary to point out that Carrie Kelley currently holds the title of 'Robin' while Tim has the title of 'Boy Wonder'.

  
Jason leaned back in his seat, opening his fifth bag of chips. He and Tim had been staking out a cottage in the middle of nowhere for the past hour.

The truck was parked on the side of a mountain pass, overlooking a valley where the cottage sat, and god, was it hot. It was dark, almost midnight, but still hot, and Jason was bored. He hated Tim, so he didn't bother speaking with him, for once focusing on the mission Bruce had assigned him.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the ground beneath them began to shook. Jason took his feet down off the dashboard and reached for the door before hesitating. Moments later, the two heard and felt subtle reverberations across the mountainside as a few rocks tumbled down the mountainside. Tim jumped with sudden dread, grabbing Jason's sweater. Jay hissed, and squinted. "What?"

"Rocks started falling..."

Jason gave a quick roll of his eyes before putting his feet back up. "It's nothing, tiny rocks and stones fall all the time."

"Mmm... it seemed like more than just tiny rocks and stones."

More rocks began to slide, more hitting the roof of the truck. Slamming noises became more and more frequent, and Jason was plain ignoring the new dents in the roof. "Shut up, pretender."

"Jason, I.."

"I said, shut up."

They both felt their seats begin to rumble again, as rocks began tumbling down quickly. Rocks pelted the jeep relentlessly, pushing it down the mountain side and turning it on its side. Jason yelled as he grabbed Tim and held him close, both boys chest to chest. Jason closed his eyes and held the boy until the rocks stopped and the truck was filled with a lifeless silence.

Tim whimpered and Jason opened his eyes. "J-Jason.."

Jason shook his head. "Shut up kid, we're fine."

"No, we're not... we can't see anything!"

Tim was right- the entire truck had been covered. They were trapped there together. Jason pushed at one of the doors. He tried to open it, tried to push the rock behind it, but it was of no use. "Don't think about that. We're alive, right?"

"For how long?!"

Tim attempted to open the door and Jason remained silent. He didn’t have an answer. Surely Bruce would come for them. He’d come for Tim, at least.

He pulled the kid back. "Don't waste your strength."

"Waste my strength?!"

"You're not gonna open the damn door."

Tim glared at him, before letting his what was left of his cool exterior fall. "We're gonna die here."

"You ain't gonna die here, Tim. Bruce will come for you."

Tim turned immediately. "You called me Tim."

"And that's what you focus on. Great," said Jason, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

**Jason Todd thought that suffocating under a rock avalanche with a toddler was a stupid way to die.**

"Because... because it means a lot to me that you finally-"

"Listen, knock off,” snarled Jason, cutting the boy off, “you don’t mean squat to me. You jacked my job before I even went cold."

Tim flushed, and gripped the seat. "O-Oh.."

Jason went back to looking for a way out, dragging his hand across the roof of the vehicle. "You can keep the job. It fucking sucks. Gets you dead."

Tim started welling up, hugging himself. "Y-Yeah..."

"Nobody deserves that." Jason sighed and turned. "Kid..."

Tears were welling up in Tim’s eyes and he sniffed. He crossed his arms and leaned against whatever surface he could, never making direct eye contact with Jason, "I get it, okay? You hate me. You hate my guts and you hate what I stand for. You hate everything about me, you hate how I look and how I act, how much I remind you of how you died and how Bruce didn't save you and I get that, but damn it, it hurts. It hurts so much, Jason, you're my hero, you're m-my inspiration, you're everything I wanted to be, and it really just... it fucking breaks my heart that you hate me," the boy was hyperventilating at this point, holding onto the passenger seat as if for dear life, "so y-you don't have to force yourself to talk to me. It's fine, I get it."

Jason stared at him for a second, before gritting his teeth and taking a breath, wiping the kids face. "Tim, hey, c'mon... we're on a limited air supply here..."

Tim scoffed. "Maybe you should just _shoot_ me."

**Tim Drake thought that killing himself here, to ease the suffering of Jason Todd, his hero, would be worth it.**

Jason winced and then shook his head, moving the kid to the backseat so they have more space. "Look at me, okay?"

Tim looked up, taking off his mask, his eyes blotchy and red. Jason got him to breathe with him, trying to ease the hyperventilating. Tim smiled weakly, eventually returning to a regular breathing pattern. Jason smiled back, mirroring him. "See? There we go... Tim, hate is a very strong word..."

"But it's the right one."

Jason shook his head and then shrugged. "I'm just angry. At most, I just really dislike you. But most of the time, it’s just a mild discomfort."

Tim chuckled, looking down again, wiping his face. "Thanks."

Jason moved them again, so he was holding the kid away from where the jeep might cave. "It's true. I just... couldn't believe Bruce brought another kid into this, after me."

Tim still hadn’t told Jason about Carrie. He hadn’t told him about how Carrie Kelley had been brought in just days after Jason’s death- how he’d ran into Carrie and joined the family through her. He’d rather be thrown under the bus for it than let Jason take his anger out on her. "I... Okay, Jason.."

Jason sighed. "I'm sorry, Tim."

"It's okay. If you wanna shoot me, the offer still stands, though."

Jason chuckled dryly, ruffling the kid’s hair. "Shoot the best one of us? Nah."

"The.. The best one...?"

Tim's eyes were sparkling.

"Mm, much better than I was. Listen, kid. I don't hate you. I don't hate any one of you. I fuckin’ died Tim. I don't want that for you guys."

Tim wrapped his arms around the bigger boy, squeezing him. “We’d better get rescued."

Jason glanced over to the crack that ran across the front window. “Bruce is coming for you, kiddo."

He remembered what it felt like. The camera trained on his face, the oil spilling around his feet. The pale faced clown and the match. The laugher. That cacophonous laughter. He knew what it felt like to be abandoned.

Tim closed his eyes and pressed his face into Jason’s arm. "Yeah..."

Jason pushed Tim’s fringe aside, looking at the boy properly. He reminded the older boy of a younger version of himself. "You'll be fine, Tim."

"Yeah... we will be."


End file.
